Portable electronic devices, such as portable media players, have become ubiquitous in today's society. As they have proliferated, so have the number and types of hardware accessories that are designed to interact with these portable media players. These accessories range in complexity, including, for example, simple speaker systems and complex automotive entertainment systems.
Accessories commonly communicate with a portable media player using a connector system. This connector system typically includes a plug connector at the accessory and a receptacle connector at the portable media player. A user fits the plug connector of the accessory into the receptacle connector of the portable media player thereby forming physical and electrical connections between the contacts of each connector that allow data and power to be exchanged between the devices.
Users may have multiple different portable media players. For various reasons, these media players may have different sized connectors. For example, the media players may be made by different manufacturers. Also, the media players may be manufactured by the same manufacturer, but a newer media player may have a more advanced, smaller sized connector receptacle than an older media player manufactured by the same company.
For these and other reasons, a user may encounter a situation where he/she has a portable media player but that media player is incompatible with certain accessories designed to operate with a different media player.